Clippers rap Toronto in NBA game
Los Angeles, Nov. 12: Kawhi Leonard endured a difficult night against the club he led to an NBA title but his Los Angeles Clippers surged late Monday to beat reigning champion Toronto Raptors 98-88.
The Clippers grinded defensively through the fourth quarter, allowing Toronto only 10 points in the final period as the Raptors missed six of their first seven shots while Lou Williams came off the LA bench for a game-high 21 points.
“Just compete on the defensive end, contest their shots and get back on transition,” Leonard said as the secret for the Clippers’ late success.
Leonard had 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists but shot only 2-of11 from the floor and 0-of4 from three-point range.
“That’s what a championship team is about. When your star is not making shots, they step up and pull it out. That’s what it's all about,” Leonard said.
Leonard was the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for Toronto in June when he sparked the Raptors over Golden
● The Clippers grinded defensively through the fourth quarter, allowing Toronto only 10 points in the final period of play.
State in the best-of-seven championship series, but he departed for his hometown Clippers in July.
“It was fun to compete against them,” Leonard said, calling the experience emotional but keeping his trademark composure.
“We had a fun ride last year. On and off the court we had fun,” he added.
Pascal Siakam led the
Raptors with 16 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 6-of-17 from the floor.
The Raptors, without injured Kyle Lowry, lost forward O.G. Anunoby to injury after only two minutes on the court.
Boston guard Kemba Walker scored 29 points before leaving late in the game with an injury, leading the host Celtics over
Dallas 116-106.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens called the setback “a little whiplash” and did not expect it was serious.
Jaylen Brown added 25 points and 11 rebounds, his second consecutive double double, on a night when Jayson Tatum went 1-for-18 from the floor and Luka Doncic led Dallas with 34 points.
“I’m just trying to keep winning, whatever I’ve got to do,” Brown said.
“We wanted to be aggressive defensively. We did a pretty good job. Luka Doncic picked us apart but other than that we did a really good job, They can't all be pretty but we got the job done,” Brown added.
The Mavericks (6-4) suffered their first road loss this season while the Celtics improved to an NBA-best 8-1 and stretched their win streak to eight games after an opening night loss to Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Kemba Walker made a trio of key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 29 points, Jaylen Brown added 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Boston beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-106 Monday night in the Celtics’ first game since Gordon Hayward had surgery on his broken left hand.
Marcus Smart scored 17 points, Daniel Theis chipped in with 11 and Brad Wanamaker had 10 for Boston, which won its eighth straight game since a season-opening loss at Philadelphia.
Jayson Tatum shot 1 for 18 from the field and scored only five points for the Celtics.